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Roger Parent Jr. was killed by an unknown assailant 45 years ago today at P&S Carryout, at 2111 Celina Road, St. Marys. Photo provided by Auglaize County Sheriff's Office
ST. MARYS - Like many Ohioans on the evening of Dec. 29, 1978, P&S Carryout co-owner Larry Sullivan was at a friend's party watching the Buckeyes play in the Gator Bowl.
"That was the night that Woody Hayes got kicked out of football," he said. "That's where I was. I was at a friend's house watching that that night."
At 11:55 p.m. on the east side of Grand Lake, his 33-year-old business partner and friend Roger Parent Jr., while closing up the carry-out, was shot in the back by an unknown assailant with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Though no gunshots were reported, a female customer from the neighborhood entered the carry-out for a snack and found Parent's body lying behind the counter less than five minutes after the shooting, an area newspaper reported at the time.
The woman left and returned with her husband, who checked for a pulse and found none. The Auglaize County Sheriff's Office was called at about 11:59 p.m. The shooter also took $95 from the cash register, according to newspaper reports.
Parent was pronounced dead at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital. An autopsy ordered by coroner John Cruz found that Parent died from a gunshot wound, according to the sheriff's office.
"I had kind of a guilt complex for a while," Sullivan said. "Why wasn't it me? And why was it him?"
Following his death, the county's fifth murder investigation was launched that night by former Auglaize County Sheriff James Knoch and investigator John Eisley. The investigation persists to this day.
According to sheriff's reports, a man was seen at the carry-out on the night of the murder by an unspecified number of witnesses.
A white man aged 35-40 with a brimmed hat was seen by an unspecified number of witnesses at P&S Carryout around the time of Roger Parent Jr's murder. Photo provided by Auglaize County Sheriff's Office
Witnesses described the suspect as a caucasian man between the ages of 35 to 40, about 5'8" and 160 to 170 pounds. He had curly, sandy-colored hair and was wearing a man's old fashioned wide-brimmed felt hat, a light brown or tan three-quarter length coat or car coat and blue jeans. He had no facial hair, no glasses and was a stranger to witnesses.
The identity of the man in the sketch has yet to be identified, according to Auglaize County Detective and lead investigator Timothy Rammel.
Witnesses also reportedly saw a red camper truck in the area, and investigators are also still seeking the owner of the vehicle with hopes of questioning the driver.
Chief Deputy Mike Peterson added that eye witnesses from the night of the murder didn't witness the presumed robbery-turned-murder.
"Witnesses we're talking about would be customers that came through the drive-thru, maybe somebody driving by at the time, but not going into the drive-thru," he said.
As the years turned into decades and the case turned cold, sightings then turned into hearsay.
"A few people have come forward because they were sitting at a coffee house," Peterson said. "This group of people overheard this group talking about the murder back in the day."
A lot of people liked Parent and wanted to do whatever they could to try to help, he added.
"Whether that was a car they saw by driving home that night, they called with that tip, maybe (it was) nothing," he said. "But they witnessed some vehicle in the area. Those are the things … we're trying to maybe identify … those people or whatnot."
Roger Parent Jr. was killed by an unknown assailant 45 years ago today at P&S Carryout, at 2111 Celina Road, St. Marys. Photo provided by Auglaize County Sheriff's Office
P&S Carryout, co-owned by friends Parent and Sullivan of St. Marys, was a white block building with a large Pepsi sign painted on its side, located at 2111 Celina Road in St. Marys. It included both a drive-thru and a walk-in entrance to the business.
Parent and Sullivan grew up together as children in St. Marys, Sullivan said.
"He was a year older than me, but we knew each other from school and just in town," he said.
Sullivan worked alongside Parent at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, while working part-time at a local carry-out.
After the carry-out's owner approached Sullivan about selling the business, he went straight to Parent.
"I asked Roger the next day at work if he'd be interested (in buying the carryout together)," he said. "And that's how it came about. We'd end up getting together and buying it."
Since Parent's death the business has changed ownership and names several times. The storefront was turned into a bait and tackle shop at one point and is now a barbecue restaurant.
Parent was born on Oct. 28, 1945, in Akron, the son of the late Roger and Velma Fern (Frazier) Parent of Ravenna, formerly of St. Marys.
He was married April 15, 1967, to Mary Kay Ruwoldt with whom he had two daughters Kassandra and Renee and son Robbie Lee.
Parent served in the U.S. Army from 1965-68, was a member of the Robert D. Griner Post 9289 VFW, the American Legion Post 323, Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Bass Masters Association, according to his obituary.
Forty-five years to the day since his murder, the only cold case in the county has generated a plethora of rumors as to what happened.
"(Speculation) definitely doesn't make it easy trying to decipher (what happened)," Auglaize County Sheriff Mike Vorhees said.
Rammel echoed his point and said that the 45 years that have passed makes it hard to catch up on leads.
"I find it somewhat difficult because there's people I want to talk to, but a lot of them are dead now," he said. "Some of those people heard rumors about it. They heard about the rumors, but they're gone. It's hard to follow."
Former Auglaize County Sheriff Allen Solomon, who served from 2004-2020, emphasized the differences in technology from now to the late 1970s.
"You didn't have the technology that you do now," he said. "You didn't have DNA, you didn't have video, you couldn't reconstruct the crime scene."
The technology at the time was limited to basic photography, mostly black and white.
Vorhees said the department has sent DNA from an unspecified source to a lab for testing. Officials have said fingerprints were found at the scene.
Investigators are open to exploring any tip or story, whether locals think police have heard it or not.
"Sit back and think about what was going on back in that day, and I'm more than willing to talk with anybody," Peterson said.
He and other deputies have traveled all over Ohio and different states over the years to track down leads for the case.
"There's always been a rumor back in the '70s that two or three guys were going around this area, robbing or burglarizing carry-outs, stores like that," Peterson said. "Two of the three have since died years ago. The third one was rumored to have moved out west in the early '80s after this incident took place. Nobody really ever got an opportunity to talk to him and say, 'Hey, you kind of did this kind of thing back in the day. Where were you at around this time frame?' It was Sheriff Solomon then that said, 'Yeah, let's try to track him down when you go out and interview him.'"
Peterson then went to Oklahoma in February 2019, found the person of interest and interviewed him.
However, the meeting didn't lead to much, Peterson said. The man was afraid the crime "was going to be pinned on him." The suspect has since died.
"It's worth a shot," he said of the cross-country trip. "If it was my family that had this take place, I would most certainly want a detective or a deputy to go to Oklahoma to try to either talk or find someone."
In addition to asking for tips, the sheriff's office occasionally ventures out into St. Marys to ask community members what they know about the murder and area during the time it occurred.
Most recently, Rammel spoke about the murders to locals at the St. Marys local history round table on March 28.
At the event, Rammel told attendees that investigators have fingerprints that have not been identified and have discussed multiple theories.
One theory mentioned at the round table was the possibility of three male persons of interest seen driving an orange over-white Ford Pinto.
Rammel and attendees also discussed whether Parent was killed intentionally or as the result of a robbery gone wrong.
Peterson said one of the most common theories is that the assailant had committed suicide shortly after the murder.
There were several St. Marys residents who committed suicide in the months following the murder. Some citizens at the time connected their deaths to the crime.
"There's a popular one out there where a St. Marys guy had committed suicide a few months after this happened," he said. "So everybody is like, 'Oh, he did it.'"
Amid the murder's 45th anniversary, Vorhees said investigators still want to bring the case to a close.
"Anytime you do an investigation, you want to solve it, you get that urge," he said. "I just know that these guys are passionate in whatever they do. If we can bring closure to the family, that's what we want. Is our suspect dead or alive? That's the big question … It's closure."
With or without closure, Sullivan said he can never forget Roger.
"I remember (him when) I see his son out at the bowling alley, which is every week," he said. "I see Robbie out there at the bowling alley."
Any information about the events that led to Parent's murder can be reported to the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office at 419-739-6565. Ask to speak with detective Tim Rammel, chief deputy Mike Peterson or Lt. Doug Burke.
Callers can remain anonymous or tips can be sent in anonymously through the sheriff's office website at www2.auglaizecounty.org/elected-officials/sheriff/anonymous-tip-sheriffs-office.
